Door motor



L' P. HYNES March 29, 1932.

DOOR MOTOR Filed Feb 3 Mum.- u

O r O a awuzntoz LEE P. -HYNE6 351211 abhor nu V Patented Mar. 29,1932

' UNITED STAT-Es LEE r. mines, or ALBANY, new YORK, ASSIGNOR, B MESNECASSIGNMENTS, T ooN SOLIIDATED CAR-HEATING COMPANY, Inc, on ALBANY; new yonx, a coRroaA'rIoN OF NEW YORK I poonnoro'n .7 r

A pplication filefi Februaryt, 1924. i Serial No. 31 1 v v i For a detailed description of the present form of my invention, reference may behad to the followingspecification and. to the a ocompanying drawings, wherein I Fig. 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 is an elevation of my device; I Fig. 3 shows the gearing. a v My invention relates to ajmeans for utilizing' an electric motor for the operation of car doors in placeof the pneumatic motors heretofore commonly used'therefor. In particu; lar I purpose to adapt an electric motor for operating folding doors, the main door of each folding pair ha'ving a;vert1cal shaft along its outer edge. The two verticalshatts are operated simultaneously by an overhead motor, through the agency 50f; a horizontal rack-bar. which is moved long tudlnally by the motor through a spring'sleeve onthe bar This spring sleeve is also provided'with rack teethwhich ar-e'engagedvby a pinion driven bythe motor through a very high-ratio re-- duction-gearing havingnoback actionf; The

spring sleeve is free to slide on the ra-ck bar except as restricted; by the springs. The springs are interposed between the respective ends of the sleeve and certain adjustable stops on the bar. Thusthe motordr ves the doors through the intervention of one or the.

other of these twofsprings. In additiornll locate a switch near the normal end of travel of the sleeve at each end. This switch is, in the motor circuit and serves as a limit switch to'break that circuit when the doors are in either closed or open position. In addition, I make these switches serve as torsion switches, by giving the springs a long range of compression substantially equal to the range of travel of the door. By this means the motor having theaforesaid high-ratio gearing can operate, even with the doors locked, and make its normal run, but, instead of moving the doors, it will compress the.

spring and finallyoperate the limit switch, just as it would do if it worked thedoors instead of the spring. 'This device enables me to eliminate-froni the organization, the torsion switches that have heretofore been found necessary in the case'of electricallyoperated doors, and in thatmanner to mate hpl ryj we the me awatt;

Ivalso interpose a manual clutch, betweenone,

at least, of'the vertical door-shaftsgand its,

operating pinion, whereby, in an emergency,

1 the door can be disconnected fromthe motor mechanism and opened-or closed by hand.

. 'l hatv expedient .rendersthe dooroperation practicable under the conditions of actual service-and, adds. but little to the cost and complexity of the mechanism. f

,Turning to the draw'ng s,A, 1A representthetwo leaves or sectionsof one. of the :two

doors, thecorresponding leaves or sections:be}v lng marked respectively B and B .0 represents a vertical shaft-on theleft-liand edge of door A adjoining the door framqandf'G? a similar shaft on therighbhandedge ofthe.

door These two vertical shatt-shave,.si1it{ able bearings in the dooriframefat:top and bottom, while the leavesAi and B will 'be .pro-

vided; with the customary guides. Therebythesimultaneous-rotation oft-he shafts Q'and 1 C for degrees will eitherf open or close I bothdoorsl' q 1, g I p The motor P,toge ther withthe associated mechanism, is contained in f a pressed steel channel K abovelthe door whichmanates a suitable'base. The motor Pisshownby a full line contour in F 1g. 2, but is only indicated by. dotted .lines in Fig. 1, to permit a clear showing ofthe mechanism. In both ures the final motor-pinion is shown. at

That pinion Q,.as appears in Fig; 3, is op.-

erated the armatureshaft through two sets of worm gearing giving areduction-ratio of 601:0 l,gas an example of a; large reduction. On the upper end of the said vertical doorshaftCisapinionD and .a corresponding I pinionD isappliedto the upper end of door shaft C with an interposed clutchiR which is normally closed by a'spring a, but is capable of being lifted manually by a leVerT to disconnect the said shaft and pinion. V H

Itwill usually be suflicient to provide such His a horizontal rack-bar having at oneend shaft Q a d a its ar se se e" imi r a a clutch for-only one of the two doors, to per,- 1,

-,'rack;E meshing with pinion'D on door shaft-C The rack-bar H will be mounted independently of thedoor in suitable bearings to permit of its longitudinal reciprocation, and, since it engages opposite sides of :the respective pinions D and-iD suchfreciprocation will cause the two doors to swing either toward each other for closingor' away from each other for opening; On the: rackbar H-aisa loose actuating sleeveF which. is also provided withrack teeth meshing with the aforesaid motor-pinion Q. The respec-:

tive ends of sleeve F bear against long, open springs (1, G which are. coiled-around bar H. i

andrest against adjustable stops at and l thereon; Q On the opposite ends of thesleeve.

there are projectionsif? which, a'tth'eend of. the opening and closing strokesoftthesleeve, engage one or the other of the two" spring switches S, S in the mot-or-circuitl 1 These two switches are in'the circuit of the re? 7 versibleelement ofthe motorsay, the arma ture1'whereby the .op'eningof one limit I switch,at the end of'a. door-closing run, will leave unopened the other limit switch-in the reverse circuit, sothat the subsequent closure of that, reverse circuit by the control-switch will'cause the motor to start on its reverse, or

do Orbpening, run.

shown atX and it maybe assumed, for instance, that'it is in its" door-closingposition,

Y J and that themotorhas completed its. door- 1 'closing operati-on and then stopped with the limit-switch S fopen, the switchl S being 'c'losed. {The ldoor-closing circuitis from the "Phis termin ltO- Q plates 1 zithence tothe armature wires 15 and; 6, thence ito 'the limitswitch S a'nd then, if said limit-switch were closed, to, the contacts? and 4,to the field magnet wires'T-and 8, and, finally, to the minus terminal of the circuit; 'lzliefsubsejquentmove ment of thevswit ch X to the left;

would "then close the. door-openingicircuit through contacts 9 and-"1.0,:limit-switch S, which "is now closed, armature wires 6' and 5 (thereby reversingthe motor) to contacts 11 and'12,fto v field-magnetj Wires 7 and 8 '(the finally, to theminus terminal.

field-magnet remaining unreversed) and,

' Thecharacter ofthe springs Grand Gr is an important; factor of my construction.

First they have such aidegree: of stiffness that they will not yield materiallywhen the motoriis operating the doors at a timewhen the doors are free from obstruction ;'se cond, they have such length and coil-spacing that, while their resistance to compression .willbe overcome by the motor without undue increase ofcurrent 1 1n the motor colls, yet such reslsta'nfce will not increase materiallyover a long 1 length ofspringo-contraction, Thereby, even if the-doors should-"beblocked at the begin.

"ningrofga run, the motor would not be stopped, bnt wou'ld not only compress the spring butco'ntinue'to compress it for a long The. control-switch is tions 7, f on the sleeve to reach andIoperate the corresponding limit-switch, the doors in the meanwhile remaining blocked and motionless. tension in the'spring prevents it from subsequently closing the door with a violentslam. 'Hereto fore, it has been proposed to provide thatiwouldact temporarily to relieve the mo-' The absence of a high degree ofan electric vdoor-motorfwith; torsion-switches distance suflicient to enable one of the pr'oiec- I for if the door encountered an obstruction I and also with limit-switches that'would only act at the end of the run, and were merely dependent on :thefposition of the door and i not upon spring tension. Bythe construction aforesaid'l am enabledto do away with one of the sets of switches heretofore considered necessary, with no-impairment of the apparatus, but with a material simplification thereof. The safety of'the motor and of any passenger who might be caught in the door. is still preserved over'the entire range of tra-vel 'of the door and yet the motor circuit will ultimately be broken. It should be also ,observed that," by virtueiof theworm' gearing thesprings-G, G can not react to reversethe motor mechanically when the currentj .is 'cu t off. by a liniit-switch'at a time when; the springs are under'tensio'n, "But the-tsaid springs can react at anyxpoint in theio porary obstructionis-remo ved;

perationltomove'the doors when a 'tem' VVha-t I olaim as'new and deslre to secure by LettersPatent isz' j I. An'electmcdoor-motor, provided with a gitudinal movement so as t'oioperat'e tlie door, a movable -m'em'ber propelled by said' gea rjing, a driving springfbetween said movable "member and the rack-bar and a limit-switch I ated by sa'idr movable member and con} trollingthemqto V. a I in T non-reacting drivingconnection, a longitudis 'nally movable rack-bar, a door operatlng gear wheel engaged by the raclnbar, a slid;

'ing sleeve on said rack-bar having rack-teeth engaged by a gear-wheel drlven by'the motor through said non-react1ng gearing," and a driving spring interposedbetween said sleeve andthe rack-bar.

2; An electric door-motor, providedwithf a 7. i 9 wormgearing, a-rack-bar supported for lonf An electric doormotor havinga: non-1 V reacting driving-connection actuated thereby,

a longitudinally'movable'rack-bar', amoving memb'er driven by 'said gearinga spring beit tween saidmember and the raclobar, a door- '7 operating shaft, a gear wheel for said shaft engaged by the rack-bar and-a clutch contiollingjthe operationof'said shaftby the 45A door operating'motor located above :rse

operated by the motor, a spring-between said member andsaid stop, and a limit-switch operated by said movable member and control ling the motor.

5. A door-operating motor located above a pair of folding doors, vertical shafts for said doors, a horizontally moving rack-bar geared to the respective shafts, a stop on said rack-bar, a sliding sleeve on said rack-bar, a spring between said sleeve and said stop, and a pair of limit-switches engaged by said sleeve at the respective ends of its reciprocating travel.

6. A door operating mechanism comprising an electric door motor, a door operating rod provided with stops, a movable element operated by said motor and yieldably interposed between the motor and said stops so that movement imparted to said .element by said motor will'be transferred to said rod, and a motor switch so located as .to be operated by the yieldably mounted movable element at the end ofits travel independently of the travel of said rod.

7. An electric door motor forfolding doors provided with a rectilinearly movable door V actuating bar mounted to move with respect to the doors to be'operated, ,a movable member driven by the motorvthrough a nonreacting connection, a spring between said member and the said bar so that said bar may be actuated by movement of said member, and a limit switch operated by said movable member and controlling the motor.

8. A door closing mechanism comprising a pair of vertically disposed rotatable shafts, doors mountedon said shafts, an electricmotor located above said shafts, ahorizontally movable door operating member engaging both shafts so as to rotate them, a moving member operated by the motor through a non-reacting connection, a driving spring between said member and the said door operating member, and a limit switch operated by said member and controlling the motor.

9. An electric doormotor provided with a compression spring, a worm gearing having a high ratio of reduction connected to and operated by said motor. a movable actuator member operated bv said gearing and hear ing against one end of said spring, a rotatable door shaft. means engaged by the other end of said spring for operating said shaft,

tooperate'the door upon removal of said'ob struction.

11. A door operating mechanism comprising a gear, an electric door motor provided with a non-reacting driving connection be? tween 1t and the gear, a door operatlng rod,

and a movable element mounted on said rod and operated by said gear, said element' hav ing a yieldable engagement with said rod,

together with a motor, switch operated by said movable element at the end of its travel in dependently of the door travel.

12. A door operating mechanismcompris ing. an electric door motor, a door operating rod provided with spaced apart stops, an actuating element operated by said motor and v movably mounted on said rod, springs inter posed between the actuator element and said stops, so that movement imparted to said actuator element by the motor will be transferred to said rod,'sa'id springs havinga compression range corresponding to therange of;

travel ofthe door, and a motor switch so lo-" 1 cated as to be operated by the actuator element at the end of its travel independently of the travel of said rod.

13.,An electric door motor provided with a member mounted to-travel in a straight line: and propelled by said driving connection, a rectilinearly movable door 4 actuating 4 rod mounted independentlyof the door to be operated, and a spring having one end bearing againstsaid movable member and its other end engaging said rod, so that movement of saidmember will compress said spring and non-reacting driving connection, a movablef it impart corresponding movement to said rod.

Signed at Albany, county of Albany and State of New York, this 5th day of February, 1924:. p

' LEEI. HYNES.

and a motor switch operated by said actuator the motor for building up a tension to said spring while 'movement of the door is obstructed. said operating connection being so arranged that said spring will supply power 

